The good news, though, is that between now and then, a steady trickle of Oscar contenders and runners-up will land in local theaters in that time, after making their late-year Oscar-qualifying runs on the coasts.

In fact, between those films and the usual springtime studio fare, there's a heck of a lot of movies on tap. Sixty-nine of them, by my count, that are slated to open in New Orleans cinemas between now and the start of Hollywood summer in early May.

How's that for putting a little springtime spring in your step?

Even better, below is my annual Spring Movie Preview, offering the skinny on each of them, arranged by opening dates.

Those dates, for the record, are subject to change -- and some of them are guaranteed to. The big studios were still shuffling things around right up until the moment Magilla -- my 400-pound, silverback editor -- pried this story from my ink-stained hands.

Chronicle. An incredible discovery imparts superpowers on three high-school friends -- which turns out to be less-awesome than it sounds, as their lives start spinning out of control in this sci-fi thriller. Watch the "Chronicle" trailer.Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan, Michael Kelly. Director: Josh Trank. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

City Dark. Documentarian Ian Cheney directs a film about "the loss of night" -- more specifically, about light pollution and its role making the night sky all but disappear in today's world. Director: Cheney. Studio: Argot Pictures.

King of Devil's Island. Stellan Skarsgard stars in a Norwegian drama about the residents of a boys home for juvenile delinquents who come up with a plan to escape the clutches of the sadistic guards running the place. Only, things don't go quite as planned. Inspired by real events. Cast: Benjamin Helstad, Stellan Skarsgard, Trond Nillson, Magnus Langlete. Director: Marius Holst. Studio: Film Movement.

The Woman in Black. Daniel Radcliffe gets his post-"Harry Potter" career started with a supernatural period drama -- based on the novel by Susan Hill -- about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village that is being terrorized by a very, very angry ghost. Watch the "Woman in Black" trailer.Cast: Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Shaun Dooley. Director: James Watkins. Studio: CBS Films.

Feb. 10

The Flowers of War. Christian Bale teams up with director Zhang Yimou for a period epic about a Westerner who finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's 1937 occupation of Nanking. Cast: Christian Bale, Paul Schneider, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawei. Director: Zhang. Studio: FilmNation Entertainment.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3-D . This sequel to 2008's 3-D adventure "Journey to the Center of the Earth" sees a boy embark on a mission to rescue his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island. Based on the classic Jules Verne story. Watch the "Journey 2" trailer.Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens. Director: Brad Peyton. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012. The Prytania Theatre hosts its annual run of the short films nominated for Oscars in the animated and live-action categories. (Among the animated films this year: The Shreveport-crafted "The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore.") Studio: Magnolia Pictures.

Safe House. A young CIA agent must go on the run with a fugitive when the safe house in which they are holed up falls under attack. Watch the "Safe House" trailer.Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington, Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson. Director: Daniel Espinosa. Studio: Universal Pictures.

Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace. George Lucas runs the 1999 chapter from his space soap opera through the 3D-ifier, with the promise of releasing one a year -- in order -- through 2018. Just like that, a whole new generation of children gets to experience it on the big screen -- and a whole new generation of fanboys can cry sacrilege. Cast: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid. Director: George Lucas. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

The Vow After his wife awakens from a coma -- but with her memories of her past life wiped clean -- a husband sets out to win her heart all over again. Cast: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill, Scott Speedman, Jessica Lange. Director: Michael Sucsy. Studio: Screen Gems.

Feb. 14

BEST BET FOR GROWN-UPS: Judi Dench, left, and Celia Imrie in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.' Opens: May 4.

This Means War. This year's Valentine's Day date flick is an action-comedy about two CIA agents who take their rivalry to new heights when they realize they are both dating the same woman. Cast: Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine. Director: McG. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

Feb. 17

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Nicolas Cage resurrects the undead, motorcycle-riding Marvel Comics vigilante, which he first played in the 2007 film "Ghost Rider." This time, he's called out of hiding in Eastern Europe to foil the devil himself. Cast: Cage, Idris Elba, Ciaran Hinds. Director: Neveldine. Studio: Columbia Pictures.

The Secret World of Arrietty. Japan's revered Studio Ghibli animation house offers a story based on Mary Norton's classic novel "The Borrowers" -- about a family of 4-inch tall people who live inside the home of a normal-sized family -- as adapted in a script penned in part by animation master Hayao Miyazaki. Voice cast: Saoirse Ronan, Will Arnett, Carol Burnett, David Henrie, Amy Poehler. Directors: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Gary Rydstrom. Studio: Walt Disney Pictures / Studio Ghibli

Feb. 24

Act of Valor. When a CIA agent disappears, a team of Navy SEALs is dispatched to rescue him in a film that started out as Navy recruitment film and evolved into a feature-length thriller. Eight active-duty SEALs co-star in the film, which includes scenes shot at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Cast: Alex Veadov, Rosalyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano, Emilio Rivera. Directors: Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh. Studio: Relativity Media.

Don't Go in the Woods. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio tries his hand at directing in a horror-musical, based on a story he wrote, about a band who decides to sequester themselves in the woods to write songs. Cue evil. Cast: Matt Sbeglia, Bo Boddie, Soomin Lee, Eric Bogosian. Director: D'Onofrio. Studio: Tribeca Film.

Gone. One year after being rescued from the clutches of a serial killer, a young woman returns home to find that her sister has been abducted. Fearing the worst -- that the same psycho who attacked her is on the loose again -- she sets out on a frantic rescue mission. Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata, Jennifer Carpenter. Director: Heitor Dhalia. Studio: Summit Entertainment.

Rampart. Set in 1999 Los Angeles, it stars Woody Harrelson as a Los Angeles cop whose own code of justice -- one that blurs the line between right and wrong -- lands him in the middle of a department-wide scandal that could cost him his badge, and his sanity. Cast: Harrelson, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ice Cube, Ned Beatty, Cynthia Nixon, Anne Heche. Director: Oren Moverman. Studio: Millennium Films.

Wanderlust. The latest comedy from the House of Apatow follows a downsized Manhattanite who, with his wife, trades the city for a freewheeling community of neo-hippies. Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Malin Akerman, Ray Liotta. Director: David Wain. Studio: Universal Pictures.

Project X. An R-rated, booze-fueled teen comedy, about three high-school seniors who decide to throw the party of all parties. How much do you want to bet that things get out of hand? Cast: Thomas Mann, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Oliver Cooper, Nicole O'Connor, Martin Klebba. Director: Nima Nourizadeh. Studio: Warner Bros.

March 9

Bully. A documentary about bullying among young people, and how it affects every one of us. Director: Lee Hirsch. Studio: The Weinstein Co.

Friends with Kids. Two best friends come up with what they figure is the perfect way to avoid the pitfalls of parenthoods that have befallen their married friends: They will have a child together but keep their relationship platonic. Yeah, that'll work. Cast: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Megan Fox, Edward Burns. Director: Westfeldt. Studio: Lionsgate.

BEST BET FOR SCI-FI ADVENTURE: Taylor Kitsch fights off a couple of 'white apes' in 'John Carter.' Release date: March 9.

John Carter. Oscar-winning director Andrew Stanton - who helmed "Wall*e" and "Finding Nemo" for Pixar - tries his hand at live action, in a movie based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel "The Princess of Mars," the first in his series of stories about a Civil War veteran transported to a lush planet inhabited by towering barbarians. Why I'm excited: Admittedly, the March 9 release date gives me pause - after all, if it's so good, why didn't it get a mid-summer release date, with all the other heavy-hitters? But I've also got an implicit trust in Stanton's work: the guy owns two Oscars, for crying out loud. Plus, given the combination of cast, director and source material, this has potential to be something memorable. Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Bryan Cranson, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Willem Dafoe, Ciaran Hinds, Thomas Haden Church. Director: Andrew Stanton. Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Tomboy. After moving to a new neighborhood, a 10-year-old tomboy takes on a new persona -- as a boy -- in an award-winning drama from French director Celine Sciamma. Cast: Zoe Heran, Malonn Levana, Jeanne Disson. Director: Sciamma. Studio: Rocket Releasing.

March 16

21 Jump Street. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star in a comedic take on the 1980s TV show, about youthful looking police officers recruited to go undercover in a high school. The film, based on a script co-written by Hill, was shot in and around New Orleans last spring. Why I'm excited: Early buzz suggests Columbia might have a bona-fide hit on their hands -- but you knew that the minute you heard that Hill ("Superbad," "Moneyball") had a hand in writing the script. Plus: a Johnny Depp cameo. How can you not love that? Cast: Hill, Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Ice Cube. Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller. Studio: Columbia Pictures.

Jeff Who Lives at Home. Jesuit High products Mark and Jay Duplass direct a New Orleans-shot comedy about a 30-year-old slacker who is sent out on an errand by his mother, who just wants to see him contribute to the household for a change. The result, Mark Duplass says, is "an epically small adventure through the suburbs of Baton Rouge." Cast: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon. Directors: Mark and Jay Duplass. Studio: Paramount Vantage.

March 23

The Hunger Games. The first book in the popular young-adult series makes the jump to the big screen. In it, Jennifer Lawrence stars as a young girl who is selected to participate in an annual event in which 24 children are selected to participate in a televised fight to the death as a form of entertainment for the pampered ruling class of the future. Why I'm excited: Lionsgate is hoping to have the next "Twilight" franchise on its hands here (minus the shirtless vampires), so you know they're not going to do anything to mess up this inaugural installment. They've done a tremendous job assembling a top-shelf cast, and Suzanne Collins' source material is un-put-downalbe. That sounds a whole lot to me like a recipe for cinematic success. Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci. Director: Gary Ross. Studio: Lionsgate.

This is Not a Film. The film that opened December's New Orleans Middle East Film Festival returns for a full local run. It's a documentary about Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose socially conscious films prompted authorities in that country to ban him from directing another movie for 20 years. Featuring: Panahi. Director: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. Studio: Jafar Panahi Film Productions.

March 30

Mirror Mirror. The first of two new live-action takes on the classic "Snow White" tale (the other: June's "Snow White and the Huntsman") is a comedy that sees Lily Collins as the fairest of them all and Julia Roberts as the evil (and, it would appear, somewhat campy) queen. Cast: Collins, Roberts, Armie Hammer, Sean Bean. Director: Tarsem Singh. Studio: Relativity Media.

The Cold Light of Day. A family vacation to Spain turns into a nightmare for one man when intelligence agents snatch his entire family in an effort to recover a mysterious suitcase. Cast: Henry Cavill, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Echegui, Bruce Willis. Director: Mabrouk el Mechri. Studio: Summit Entertainment.

Bullet to the Head. Sylvester Stallone's New Orleans-shot action film -- about a hit man and a cop who team up to fight a common enemy when both of their partners are killed -- gets a release.Cast: Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater. Director: Walter Hill. Studio: Warner Bros.

The Cabin in the Woods. Five friends head for a retreat at a secluded cabin. As cliche as that setup is, the name of the writer-producer behind this horror-thriller makes me take notice: It's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator and "Avengers" director Joss Whedon. Cast: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Jesse Williams, Chris Hemsworth. Director: Drew Goddard. Studio: Lionsgate.

Keyhole. The latest film from Canadian director and unapologetic weirdo Guy Maddin tells the story of a gangster, with police hot on his tail, whose potential last stand comes in a house haunted by years of memories. Cast: Jason Patric, Isabella Rossellini, Uddo Kier. Director: Guy Maddin. Studio: Monterey Media.

The Three Stooges. In what could be either a really good idea or a really, really bad one, the Farrelly brothers offer their own take on the work of the classic slapstick trio. In it, Larry, Moe and Curly stumble and bumble their way through a murder plot, an attempt to save their childhood orphanage, and reality-TV stardom. Cast: Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos , Will Sasso, Sofia Vergara, Jane Lunch, Larry David, Jennifer Hudson. Directors: Bobby and Peter Farrelly. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

April 20

Chimpanzee. In keeping with its recent Earth Day tradition, Disneynature -- the House of Mouse's nature-documentary arm -- focuses on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests. Director: Alistair Fothergill. Studio: Disneynature.

Goon. Seann William Scott stars in a sports comedy (co-penned by "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express" writer Evan Goldberg) about a fight-happy lunk who - after getting into a fistfight in the stands of a hockey game -- is drafted into becoming one of the teams' on-ice enforcers. Cast: Scott, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy. Director: Michael Dowse. Studio: Magnet Releasing.

Lock-Out. Guy Pearce stars in a sci-fi thriller about a man who, after being convicted of spying against America, is given a chance to win his freedom by rescuing the president's daughter from an outer-space prison. Cast: Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare. Director: James Mather. Studio: Open Road Films.

The Lucky One. Zac Efron stars in a New Orleans-shot drama, based on the Nicolas Sparks book, about an Iraq war veteran who, upon returning home, sets out to find the mysterious woman he believes was his good-luck charm during the war. Cast: Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Jay R. Ferguson. Director: Scott Hicks. Studio: Warner Bros.

Think Like a Man. After learning that the women in their lives use a self-help book to gain insider information on how men operate, four men set out to turn the tables on them, in a comedy based on the book by Steve Harvey. Cast: Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Taraji P. Henson. Director: Tim Story. Studio: Screen Gems.

A Thousand Words. Eddie Murphy stars in a dramatic comedy about a man who learns that he has just 1,000 words to speak before he dies. Cast: Murphy, Allison Janney, Kerry Washington, Clark Duke. Director: Brian Robbins. Studio: Paramount Pictures.

The Wettest County. This Depression-era story focuses on a gang of bootleggers blackmailed by authorities who want a cut of their profits, but the real reason to see director John Hillcoat's crime drama just might be that impressive cast. Cast: Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska. Director: Hillcoat. Studio: The Weinstein Co.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3-D. Hugh Grant, Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek lend their voices to this animated whimsy about three privateers competing on the high seas for the coveted Pirate of the Year Award. Voice cast: Grant, Hayek, Piven, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson. Director: Peter Lord. Studio: Sony Pictures Animation.

The Raven. While investigating a serial killer case in 19th century Baltimore, a police detective realizes that the murders bear a striking resemblance to the writings of a local writer and social pariah -- named Edgar Allan Poe. Cast: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson, Alice Eve. Director: James McTeigue. Studio: Relativity Media.

Safe. A former government agent takes on the Triads, the Russian mafia and corrupt New York City officials to rescue a kidnapped girl. Cast: Jason Statham, Chris Sarandon. Director: Boaz Yakin. Studio: Lionsgate.

BEST BET FOR COMIC-BOOK FANS: Chris Hemsworth, left, and Chris Evans team up in the superhero extravaganza 'The Avengers.' Opening date: May 4.

The Avengers. See Members of the all-star confederation of comic-book superheroes - including Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America - lock arms to keep Loki and his outer-space army from staking a claim to Earth. Why I'm excited: This is what Marvel Enterprises has been working toward since its first "Iron Man" film hit theaters in 2008. Four years and four films later, we're finally going to learn whether they actually had a vision or are just hoping for the best. Considering the stakes, and judging by the quality of the films leading up to it - which have been decent at worst - I suspect we've got something cool in store. Cast: Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Gweneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo. Director: Joss Whedon. Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In an effort to stretch their savings and inject their golden years with an exotic locale, a group of British retirees decide to "outsource" their retirement to an Indian resort. When they show up they find a facility that is far less than what they imagined - but in other ways a whole lot more. Why I'm excited: You've got the director of "Shakespeare in Love," you've got an irresistible cast of veteran actors, and you've got a movie trailer that is steeped in pure big-hearted charm. Count me in. Cast: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith. Director: John Madden. Studio: Fox Searchlight.

Unscheduled

The following films were expected to open this spring, although exact release dates for the New Orleans market are undecided:

Coriolanus. Nobody can accuse Ralph Fiennes of being less than ambitious. In this, the Oscar-nominated actor's directorial debut, he tackles Shakespeare, starring in the title role of the Bard's war epic about a banished Roman hero who joins with his former enemy to exact a measure of vengeance on the city. Cast: Gerard Butler, Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Vanessa Redgrave. Director: Fiennes. Studio: The Weinstein Co.

In the Land of Blood and Honey. Angelina Jolie makes her directorial debut -- based on a script she wrote -- with a love story set amid, and complicated by, the war in Bosnia. Cast: Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic. Director: Jolie. Studio: Film District.

Melancholia. After playing at October's New Orleans Film Festival, Lars von Trier's dark drama gets a local run, telling the story a young woman grappling with crippling depression just as a rogue planet's orbit brings it on a collision course with Earth. Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, Charlotte Rampling. Director: Lars von Trier. Studio: Magnolia.

Pariah. An indie drama about a gay Brooklyn teenager as she tries to balance her sexual identity with the various pressures in her life. Cast: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, Kim Wayans. Director: Dee Rees. Studio: Focus Features.

Seeking Justice. Nicolas Cage stars in a crime thriller about an unassuming high-school teacher who -- spurred by a violent attack on his wife -- is drawn deeply, and reluctantly, into a dark world of vigilante justice. The film was shot in New Orleans in late 2009 and early 2010 under the title "The Hungry Rabbit Jumps." It is scheduled to start a limited release on March 16, although a studio publicist says New Orleans won't be included in the initial markets. Cast: Cage, January Jones, Guy Pearce, Harold Perrineau. Director: Roger Donaldson. Studio: Anchor Bay Films.

Undefeated. This sports documentary, nominated last week for an Oscar, focuses on an underprivileged, underdog football team from Memphis as it seeks to reverse its fortunes. Featuring: Bill Courtney, Montrail Brown, O.C. Brown, Chavis Daniels. Directors: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin. Studio: The Weinstein Co.

W.E.. Madonna, tries her hand at directing in this romantic drama about a transplanted Southerner living in New York City in a troubled marriage. When she becomes obsessed with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, she begins down a road that could lead to true happiness. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy, Oscar Isaac. Director: Madonna. Studio: The Weinstein Co.

We Need to Talk About Kevin. Tilda Swinton does the Tilda Swinton thing -- that is, she turns in another buzz-generating performance -- in this Cannes-celebrated psychological thriller about a loving mother as she comes to grips with her teenage son's increasing malevolence. Expect it some time late this month or in early March. Cast: Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller. Director: Lynne Ramsay. Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures.